Philips

Fidelio L3 Headphones

£300

Like the Sony WH-1000XM4 and its many other trendy rivals, the £299 Philips Fidelio L3 noise-cancelling wireless headphone has multiple bells and whistles, a fairly pointless app and fancy packaging. Yet, move beyond the gimmicks, there are the makings of a very good product – one that really does the business at this price point.

For me, the Fidelio L3 initially proved a bit uncomfortable to wear. There was too much of the 'head in a vice' sensation, but it did get much better over time. The earcups and headband are covered in lovely Muirhead Cairngorm leather, which is butter-smooth to the touch. So many headphones I've come across talk of having 'PU leather' or 'faux leather' – by which the manufacturer means vinyl –, but this is the real deal. It proved far less sweaty than petrochemical-derived synthetics and made my long term listening experience way nicer. The carrying case is also covered in real hide, too.

The earcup shells are plastic, but the main headphone frame is aluminium; the latter has a simple old-school design that works great. The more I used them, the more I appreciated this, even after listening to the very complex, almost sculptural Dan Clark Audio Stealth high-end wired phones beforehand. The result is that you can take the Fidelio L3 out and about with relative ease. At 360g, it's hardly an outdoor jogging phone but is much less fussy to move around in than some other full-size designs.

Philips says the Fidelio L3 comes Hi-Res Audio certified, but to me, its aptX HD flavour of Bluetooth is more important, meaning that near CD-quality sound is theoretically possible if the device transmitting the music is thus-equipped. Should you wish to get yourself connected, there's a small socket on the right earcup – and a 2.5mm to 3.5mm lead supplied. The sound does improve slightly if listened to this way.

As it turns out, the quality of the drive units, ear cups and frame – and, of course, the DAC and power amplifier module(s) inside – appears to be very good. The 40mm dynamic drivers have a claimed sensitivity of 103dB and an impedance of 16 ohms; Philips quotes a frequency response of 7Hz to 40,000Hz. The Philips ANC Pro+ adaptive noise cancelling system is fitted and uses both external and internal microphones, plus a clever algorithm, to filter out unwanted sounds. There's also an awareness setting that puts you back in touch with the outside world, should you need to be.

The left ear cup has the power button (which doubles up as a pairing button on switch on if you hold it down for five seconds), and there's a USB-C charging socket; a cable is supplied. The right ear cup has a button that toggles between ANC on, Awareness mode on, and both off, and there's another for the Voice Assistant. Finally, the side of the right ear cup is a handy touch-sensitive plate that you swipe up and down to adjust volume and sideways to change tracks.

THE LISTENING

I really didn't expect the grown-up sound that I heard from the Fidelio L3. However, it is way better than most such designs and almost passes muster as a wired hi-fi design – even if it can't match its excellent Fidelio X3 wired cousin. Give this headphone a decent quality file to play, and it serves up a surprisingly detailed and sophisticated sound that's tonally even, with delicacy and insight. It isn't boomy, harsh, opaque or flat sounding, making it better than about ninety-five percent of active noise cancellers.

The classic seventies rock of Steve Hackett's Star of Sirius was decently powerful sounding, and I could hear right into the mix. It was enjoyably spacious and had a delicate treble with no nasty surprises. The classic nineties techno of Manix's Rave Fantasy showed it to be dextrous with rhythms, delivering fast transients and decently strong bass; the forward vocal line was expressive but never tiring. The sixties jazz sound of Grant Green's Idle Moments was quite lovely, with a suitably atmospheric, smoky recorded acoustic that had more fine detail than expected. The active noise cancelling was surprisingly unobtrusive and reasonably effective, although better switched out if you don't need it.

THE VERDICT

A firm thumbs up for this mid-price wireless noise-cancelling headphone, then. The Philips Fidelio L3 is one of this market sector's most sophisticated and refined designs, and none the worse for it. With the excellent build, good comfort, useful features and most importantly, fine sound, it will tick a lot of boxes for a great many people.

Visit Philips for more information